Pressurized liquid dispenser



March 29, 1960 J. F. ZALESKI PRESSURIZED LIQUID DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 24, 1958 INVENTO JOHN F. ZA

AGENT.

March 29, 1960 J. F. ZALESKI PRESSURIZED LIQUID DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 24, 1958 \\n 4rlilllilllIilillll'lilliililil "NVENTOR. JOHN F ZALESKI United PRESSED LIQUID DISPENSER John F. Zaleski, Pleasantville, N.Y.

Application December 24, 1958, Serial No. 782,867

3 Claims. (Cl. 222-3865) This invention relates to a container for viscous liquids including a valve for convenient dispensing of the liquid.

The container of this invention is designed for liquids of all kinds and viscosities but particularly for liquids of fairly high viscosity such as grease, tooth paste, catsup, prepared mustard, hand lotion and others, and particularly for those materials classed as consumer goods. The design holds the material out of contact with air and hermetically sealed from the atmosphere, both on the store shelf and while in the hands of the consumer, until required for use and also between uses. The design allows for dispensing pressurized contents from any angle without loss of pressurizing medium.

In use, operation of a simple valve causes the material to be expelled from the container through a convenient spout. After use, upon release of the valve, a spring automatically terminates the flow of the material and again hermetically seals the remaining contents. A simple lock prevents inadvertent operation of the valve. The inexpensive design permits the container to be thrown away When empty.

The dispenser comprises three principal parts, the head including a valve, a container for the material to be dispensed, and a container for the expellant. The valve comprises two elements, one being a push-button dispensing valve and the other a twist sealing valve. The material container comprises a can strong enough for pressurization. The expellant consists of an inert gas under pressure, and its container may be the can or may comprise plastic or rubber in a cellular design. In the latter case, as an example, locked air-cell foam rubber may be employed, the rubber being the expellant container and the sealed-in gas cells constituting the compressed-gas expellant.

In' another embodiment the expellant gas is put directly into the container and the cellular sponge material is omitted. In this case a thin-walled sac or bag is employed to separate the expellant gas from direct contact with the material which is dispensed.

One purpose of this invention is to provide a convenient throw-away, dispensing container for pastes and viscous liquids.

' Another purpose is to provide a push-button dispenser for liquids.

Still another purpose is to provide a pressurized dispensing can for a wide variety of consumer and industrial liquid and semi-liquid substances.

A further understanding of this invention may be se- 2,930,513 Patented Mar. 29, 1930 ICC on the line 11 of Figure 2 except that the push-button valve is shown depressed.

Figure 5 is a cross section view of the dispenser head on the line 1--1 of Figure 2 except that the cap is shown rotated to its closed position.

Figure 6 is a cross section view of an embodiment of the invention employing compressed gas as the expellant.

Referring now to Fig. l, a cylindrical container or can 11 is preferably made of steel, aluminum or other metal of a gauge heavy enough to withstand pressurization. It has a bottom member 12, curved inward to withstand pressure and crimped liquid-tight and gas-tight to thestrong and air-tight. The portion of the tube 14 within the can is provided with numerous perforations. Alternatively, this portion of tube 14 may be meshed, fluted and slotted, or otherwise provided with apertures for ready passage of viscous liquid or semi-liquid through the tube wall. It is desirable to provide numerous perforations in the tube 14 because of the generally high viscosity of the contents of the container and because a single hole could be closed by the sponge material 17, as will be described.

A sponge-like cylinder 17 has an outer diameter greater than the inner diameter of the cylindrical can 11 and a length equal thereto. The cylinder 17 is compressed into the can at assembly when the head body 21 is joined to the can 11. The cylinder 17 is cemented or otherwise adhered to the inner can surface. For example, the inner surface of the can may be coated with a thermosetting resin which may be brought to setting temperature after assembly to adhere the sponge-like cylinder to the inner can surface. The sponge cylinder has a central axial cylindrical perforation with a diameter which becomes equal to that-of the outside of tube 14 since the sponge cylinder is compressed around tube 14. When, however, the sponge cylinder is compressed by fluid pressure within its central hole, the sponge cylinder is flattened against the inner surface of can 11.

In Fig. 1 the inner surface 17 of the sponge cylinder is depicted in a position intermediate between its extreme positions of contact with tube 14 and at the position approximately depicted by the dashed lines 18.

The material of the sponge cylinder may be, for example, of either locked air-cell foam plastic or of locked air-cell foam rubber, rubber being, however, a form of plastic. The locked air-cells of the material imprison gas bubbles so that the resiliency of the material is due mostly to gas elasticity rather than to the resiliency of the plastic material. In the present use the compressible gas bubbles serve as the expellant while the plastic has the dual function of confining the expellant and of segregating it from the liquid material to be dispensed. One example of several such materials is soft Spongex Cell-Tite, madeby B. F. Goodrich, Shelton, Connecticut.

The space between the tube 14 and the sponge cylinder surface 17' is filled with the material to be dispensed.

The head consists of four parts. The part, valve body 21, is made of plastic and is crimped to the top of the can 11 at the liquid-tight and gas-tight joint 22. The body is generally symmetrical about the axis of the can. It contains a central blind hole 23 and .a top conical depression 24. On one side of the blind hole 23 there is a port 26 and a conical spout 27 aligned therewith. The second part is a cap 28 of plastic material fitting over the valve body 21. Integral with cap 28 and molded The tube 14 is se-- a 1 together with it as a single unitary component are two flat crimped or corrugated plastic springs 29 and 31 and a push button 33. The push button 33 protrudes through a clearance hole in the center of the cap body, the clearance space being indicated by the double lines 32', Fig: 2. The push button 33 is hollow and is held in the position depicted principally by the retractile force of the third part, a sponge rubber or sponge plastic plug 34. The material of theplug 34 is preferably the same as that of the sponge cylinder 17.. The retractile force of plug 34 is aided by the retractile force'ot a resilient cylinder 36 positioned in an annular slot in the body 21 to exert its retractile force against the bottom edge 37 of the hollow cylindrical push button 33. This cylinder 36 is made of the same. material as plug 34. The retractile force is also augmented to a minor extent by the elasticity of the plastic springs 29' and 31.

An additional function of the sponge cylinder 36 and also of the sponge plug 34 is to fill voids which might otherwise be filled through leakage into theim of the paste material being expelled. Such leakage of incompressible material would block inward movement of the push button and thus prevent operation of the valve.

The cap 28 is rotatably secured to the body 21 by two rivets, one of which is visible in Fig. 1 as rivet 38. The rivets protrude through two circular slots, 41 and 42, Fig. 2, in the cap, and are headed over in assembly to permit easy rotation of the cap on the valve body through 90 degrees while preventing complete separation of the two parts. The rivet heads, 38' and 39', are depicted in Fig. 2. The rivets may be made of the plastic material of the valve body and integral therewith.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1, 2 and 3, before filling, the sponge cylinder 17 and the sealed gas cells therein are under substantially atmospheric pressure and the sponge cylinder fills the entire space between the wall of can 11 and the wall of tube 14. The dispenser can be filled with, say, tooth paste either through the spout 27 or through the pinch-off tube 14. If the latter, the push button 33 is kept in the down position, keeping the valve open, until paste filled through tube 14' has filled tube 14 and all air has been expelled. The push button down position is depicted in Fig. 4 in which the push button has been pressed down from its normal position indicated by the dashed line 43. Depression of the push button 33 is resisted by the sponge rubber cylinder 36 and the sponge rubber plug 34. When the push button is in the depressed position the aperture 44 is brought into line with the port 26 and the spout 27, both in the valve body, and provides communication between them.

In filling, when all air has been expelled and the tube 14 filled with paste, the push button 33 is released, sealing the port 26, and filling is continued under pressure. The pressure forces paste through the holes in tube 14 and the paste compresses the sponge cylinder 17 until it forms a thin layer against the can inner wall, the thinness of the layer depending on the filling pressure employed. The end 14 of tube 14 is now sealed off, entrapping paste in the filled dispenser.

To dispense the paste, the push button 33 is depressed to or near the position shown in Fig. 4, and paste squirts out spout 27 under easily-controlled pressure. Upon release of push button 33, the flow of paste stops.

If it should be desired to lock the valve closed against opening inadvertently or by small children, cap 28 is rotated clockwise as far as it will go, when the rivets indicated by heads 38 and 39', Fig. 2, will stop at the ends of the slots 41 and 42 opposite to the ends at which the rivets are depicted in the drawing. The outer end of spout 27 is thereby closed and sealed by the cap as shown in Fig. 5.

In the dispensing operation, because the expellant is confined in the closed cells of the'sponge material 17, it is not possible, in using the dispenser upside down or at any other angle or attitude, to cause the expellant to escape through the valve. When the dispensed material has nearly all been expelled .the utility of the numerous holes in the central tube 14 becomes apparent, for if one or more of these holes be closed by the expanded sponge material 17 pressing against them, other holes remain open to discharge the remaining paste.

If the embodiment of Fig. l is to be filled with paste under pressure through the spout 27, the pinch-01f tube end 14' may be closed before assembly, or a tube integral with the head and not passing through the bottom member 12 may be employed, omitting the pinch-off tube 14' entirely, in the manner shown in Fig. 6.

The construction depicted in Fig. 6 does not employ the sponge cylinder 17 but employs a bag or sac 46 made of thin rubber, plastic, or other flexible material impervious to gas. The bottom member'12 is provided with a short pinch-off tube 47. A central perforated tube 48 is made of the plastic material of the valve body 21 and is integral therewith. The head, container and bottom member are identical with those of Fig. 1 with the noted exceptions and with the further exception that the flattening of the valve body at the outer end of the spout has been omitted and the contour at this point is curved as shown in Fig. 6 at 49 instead of fiat as shown at 21', Fig. 1.

In filling the embodiment of Fig. 6 with paste, the tube 47 being open and push button 33 depressed, a tapered filling tube is fitted to the spout and a metered amount of paste introduced, distending the sac 46 to its full capacity position shown in the drawing. Push button 33 is now released, trapping the paste. Next, tube 47 is connected to a supply of filling gas which is introduced to the space between the can 11 and the sac 46 until a selected pressure is attained, when the pinch-0E tube 47 is closed. The filling gas may be of any kind which will not attack the can or sac materials and which is stable at the temperatures and pressures of assembly and use. Dry nitrogen and carbon dioxide are such gases, or air may be used if the materials resist oxygen and moisture.

In using the embodiment of Fig. 6, upon depressing the push button 33 the gas pressure in space 51 outside the bag 46 exerts force through the bag on its paste contents, which is forced through the holes of pipe 48 and out spout 27. Upon releasing the push button the flow stops. The gas initially loaded into space 51 has such pressure that it can force out all of the paste, when the sac 46 will be collapsed around the pipe 48 and the pressure in the enlarged space 51 will be slightly more than atmospheric. When the paste material has nearly all been expelled the provision of numerous holes in the central tube 48 permits the last of the paste to be expelled, even though some of the holes and the open bottom end of the tube 48 be closed by pressure of the bag 46 against them.

What is claimed is:

1. A dispenser comprising, a cylindrical container for pressurized liquid material, a plastic head forming one end thereof, said plastic head including a push-button spring-loaded valve and a rotatable cap each independently closing said container and both cooperatively dis-- pensing said liquid material, a pressure-resisting head closing the other end of said container, a perforated hollow tube extending coaxially through said container and through said pressure-resisting head, said tube terminating outside said pressure-resisting head in an end scalable by pinching off, and a locked-air-cell foam plastic cylinder cemented to the inner walls of said container, said plastic cylinder having at normal pressure a central axial aperture equal in diameter to the diameter of said tube.

2. A dispenser comprising, a cylindrical container for pressurized liquid material, a plastic head forming one end thereof, said plastic head including a push-button spring-loaded valve and a rotatable cap each independ ently closing said container and both cooperatively dispensing said liquid material, a perforated hollow plastic tube integral with said plastic head extending therefrom coaxially through nearly the whole length of said container, a pressure-resisting head closing the other end of said container, and a locked-air-cell foam plastic cylinder cemented to the inner walls of said container, said plastic cylinder having at atmospheric pressure a central axial aperture equal in diameter to that of said tube.

3. A dispenser comprising, a cylindrical container for pressurized liquid material, a plastic head forming one end thereof, said plastic head including a push-button spring-loaded valve and a rotatable cap each independently closing said container and both cooperatively dispensing said liquid material, a perforated hollow plastic tube integral with said plastic head and extending therefrom coaxially through substantially the length of said container, a pressure-resisting head closing the other end of said container, said pressure-resisting head containing a pinch-off gas filling tube, and a pliable plastic bag lining said cylindrical container, the mouth of said bag being secured gas tight to said container at the said one end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 695,323 Mittinger, Jr. Mar. 11, 1902 1,765,128 Conover June 17, 1930 2,513,455 Cornelius July 4, 1950 2,663,040 Leckler Dec. 22, 1953 2,678,147 Abplanalp May 11, 1954 2,693,983 Howell Nov. 9, 1954 2,752,066 Ayres June 26 1956 2,794,452 Quam June 4, 1957 2,815,152 Mills Dec. 3, 1957 2,816,691 Ward Dec. 17, 1957 

